TUTORS 2025
DONALD GRANT (violin) from Manchester is co-founder of the Elias Quartet (GB) and since more than twenty years member of this ensemble. He performs at major concert venues worldwide (e.g. Carnegie Hall, Wiener Musikverein, Konzerthaus Berlin, Wigmore Hall London and Concertgebouw Amsterdam). With his Quartet he recorded all Beethoven Quartets for the Wigmore Hall live label. His debut album ‘The way home’ shows him as passionate fiddle player. He isa also member of folk band “The Secret North”. Donald is teacher and Deputy Head of Chamber Music of the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester.
JELTE ALTHUIS (bass clarinet/basset horn) is member of the Calefax Reed Quintet for about 30 years and and plays with this ensemble at prominent concert venues worldwide. He specialized on the bass clarinet and basset horn, especially for this ensemble. Since 2010 he also plays the contrabass clarinet. Jelte is founder of the music collective Lyrisch Laag and he forms a duo with organist/pianist Henny Heikens. Besides performing he is experienced both as an arranger and a coach for advanced musicians. He is teaching in the master program of the Royal Conservatory The Hague.
MARTIN STUPKA (viola) from Prague is a versatile and accomplished violist. Martin's musical activities are very wide-ranging and include collaborations across various musical genres: chamber music (as a current member of the Škampa Quartet and Martinu Quartet), chamber orchestra (with the Talich Philharmonia Prague and the Prague Chamber Orchestra); baroque music (with Collegium Marianum, Musica Floera and Collegium 1704); jazz (with P.F.O., Octothorpe and Mira Mode Orchestra); and folk music (with Rosénka). With those ensembles he has toured widely within Europe and further afield. Martin has also given masterclasses at the String Master Courses in Dobřichovice and at present teaches at the Academy of Performing Arts in Prague.
RAAF HEKKEMA (saxophone) is co-founder of Calefax Reed Quintet. He arranged hundreds of works for Calefax and himself, many of which have been recorded. With his ensemble he regularly offers educational concerts for children and he is very engaged in teaching professional and amateur musicians. Raaf performed chamber music with musicians as Liza Ferschtman, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Remy van Kesteren, het Danel Quartet, Christianne Stotijn and Helena Rasker. He teaches saxophone and chamber music at the Royal Conservatory The Hague. In 2020 he was appointed as a member of the ‘Akademie van Kunsten’.
SIDONIE RIHA (violin) was second violinist of the Rubens and Faust Quartet and violinist of the Deutsche Kammerakademie. With these ensembles she performed at many concert venues and festivals (e.g. Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Berliner Philharmonie, Opera Oslo, Festival Quartuor a cordes Luberon, Schleswig Holstein Festival). Sidonie provided masterclasses chamber music at the summer school of the University of Bloomington, the Barratt Due Music Institute Oslo and Cremona X archi. She regularly performs with the Nederland Kamerorkest and is a teacher for violin, viola and chamber music at the Music Academy The Hague.
MEMBERS OF TRIO KAGURA: Trio Kagura is an international ensemble founded in 2017 in Manchester, uniting musicians from Japan, Lithuania, and New Zealand. The Trio is an acclaimed ensemble that performs regularly across the UK and Europe. It has recently been selected for the prestigious 2024-25 Britten Pears Young Artist Programme. Trio Kagura is regularly working with some of the finest musicians in the world, including David Waterman, Kathryn Stott, Pavel Fischer, Petr Prause and members of the Talich Quartet.
PIJUS JONUŠAS (violin) is a Lithuanian violinist. He studied at the Royal Conservatoire in The Hague and at The Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester. During his studies which he finished with distinction, he specialized in chamber music. Pijus became member of the Elmore Quartet and Trio Kagura. With the Elmore Quartet he was appointed as a Junior Fellow in chamber music. He has performed in iconic venues including Concertgebouw in Amsterdam, Wigmore, Cadogan and Conway halls in London and collaborated with renowned artists like Magnus Johnston, Timothy Ridout and Abel Salaocoe. He is also active as teacher for violin and chamber music.
YUUKI BOUTEREY-ISHIDO (cello) is a New Zealand cellist currently performing in the UK and Europe as a member of the Trio Kagura, and Sub-Principal Cello at the Royal Scottish National Orchestra. He has toured Europe extensively as a member of the Menuhin Academy Soloists under the direction of Maxim Vengerov and has been invited to perform at major festivals around the world. Yuuki has been awarded numerous chamber music and solo prizes including the 1 Prize in the Barbirolli Cello Competition and the String Player Award at the Gisborne International Music Competition. He collaborates with artists such as David Waterman, Ilya Grubert, and Christophe Roy.
KANAKO MIZUNO (piano) from Japan graduated from the Royal Academy of Music London and the Royal Northern College of Music, where She was selected as a winner of the Gold Medal. She received a Global Talent Visa from the UK and has been awarded numerous prizes in recognition of her skilful piano playing. Winning placements include Japan Player’s Competition, the Young Artist Piano Competition, Le Brilant French Music Competition, Tokyo Piano Competition and Japan Classical Music Competition. Kanako has a strong passion in chamber music and teaching. She is a member of Trio Kagura and the Hara Duo and regularly collaborates with dancers.
TEACHERS 2024
Mirsa Adami (piano) is a member of the Darius Ensemble and has formed a duo with violinist Cecilia Bernardini, with whom she won the Vriendenkrans Award of the Concertgebouw Amsterdam. Since many years she is a repetiteur at the Dutch National Opera Academy and an accompanist at the International Holland Music Sessions. She is one of the pianists and presenters of the `Classical Express` a driving concert hall which brings classical music to schools and she develops her own educational projects. In her concerts she often combines music with literature. In 2015 she was honored for that by the French Société Académique Arts-Sciences-Lettres.
Pavel Fischer (violin) is co-founder of the Škampa Quartet whose leader he was for many years. He worked together with musicians as Josef Suk, Kathryn Stott, Ronald van Spaendonck, Liza Ferschtman and Janine Jansen. He is teacher at the Royal Northern College of Music Manchester, CODARTS Rotterdam and the Conservatoire Birmingham and regularly gets invited as guest teacher at the Royal Academy of Music in London, the Netherlands String Quartet Academy and the Australian Chamber Music Festival. Pavel performs also with his crossover-ensembles Camael and Il bardolino. He composed several chamber music works which were performed at Carnegie Hall, the Rudolfinum and the Elbphilharmonie.
Jelte Althuis (basset horn/ (contra)bass clarinet) is co-founder of Calefax Reed Quintet and plays with this ensemble at prominent concert venues worldwide. He arranged hundreds of works for Calefax and himself, many of which have been recorded. He is member and arranger of a collective of low instruments called ‘Lyrisch Laag’ and has an intensive collaboration with pianist/organist Henny Heikens. He belongs to the Chamber Music Faculty of the Royal Conservatory in The Hague and has a lot of experience in coaching amateurs.
Donald Grant (violin) is co-founder of the Elias Quartet (GB) and since 17 years member of this ensemble. He performs at major concert venues worldwide (o.a. Carnegie Hall, Wiener Musikverein, Konzerthaus Berlin, Wigmore Hall London and Concertgebouw Amsterdam) and recorded many cd's ( e.g. complete recording of alle Beethoven String Quartets and the album "The way home" with own compositions). He is teacher and Deputy Head of Chamber Music of the Royal Northern College of Music (Manchester) and he is a passionate player of Scottish Folk Music.
Raaf Hekkema (saxophone) is co-founder of Calefax Reed Quintet and plays with this ensemble at prominent concert venues worldwide. He arranged hundreds of works for Calefax and himself, many of which have been recorded. With his ensemble he regularly offers educational concerts for children and he is very engaged in teaching professional and amateur musicians. Raaf performed chamber music with musicians as Liza Ferschtman, Jean-Yves Thibaudet, Remy van Kesteren, het Danel Quartet, Christianne Stotijn and Helena Rasker. He teaches saxophone and chamber music at the Royal Conservatory The Hague. In 2020 he was appointed as a member of the ‘Akademie van Kunsten’.
Sidonie Riha (violin/viola) is a former 2nd violinist of the Rubens Quartet and Faust Quartet. She performed at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, Berliner Philharmonie, Opera Oslo and festivals as the International Festival Quartuor a cordes Luberon and the Schleswig Holstein Festival. She collaborated with the Borodin Quartet, Mitsuko Shirai, Karl Leister, Dimitry Ashkenazy, Inon Barnatan and Ariadne Daskalakis and taught chamber music during the summer school of the University of Bloomington, at the Barratt Due Institute Oslo and the Conservatories in Rotterdam and Maastricht. She regularly performs with the Netherlands Chamber Orchestra and is a teacher for violin, viola and chamber music at the Music Academy The Hague.
Charles Watt (cello) studied cello at Cambridge University and at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, London. For many years, he taught at the Yehudi Menuhin School and the Purcell School. Currently, he is the solo cellist in the "Insomnio ensemble", the "Lumaka ensemble" and the "Alban Berg Ensemble." He performed at concerts in Europe and America, i.a. the Alice Tully Hall in New York, The Concertgebouw in Amsterdam and the Royal Albert Hall in London. He regularly coached the Fancy Fiddlers, a string orchestra of highly talented children. Charles has also taught masterclasses, both in the United Kingdom and elsewhere.